A year ago, Ali was enjoying university in Damascus, looking forward to a career
in dentistry and paying little heed to politics in a country controlled by a
single family for over 40 years.
That all changed, not so much when other Syrians took to the streets to
demand President Bashar al-Assad step down, but when a mysterious message popped
up on his Facebook page; it told him to get out of town, or die - because he was
the wrong religion.
"You Alawite," read a text on the social networking site, widely hailed by
pro-democracy activists for enabling the Arab Spring uprisings. "We don't want
to see your face in Barzeh."
Now, long dormant religious bigotries have thrust politics on Ali, who was
born into the minority Alawite sect and still lives in the Damascus suburb of
Barzeh, where most of his neighbors are Sunni Muslims. The 25-year-old student
is now a firm supporter of Assad, not from any admiration for the wealthy elite
that has run the country with an iron - and often bloody - fist for four
decades, but because they too are Alawites.
"They sent me the threat just because I am an Alawite living in Barzeh," Ali
said during a series of interviews Reuters conducted in the Syrian capital last
week with a variety of Alawite residents who asked that their identities be
concealed.
If Assad falls, they fear a bloodbath for fellow Alawites, outnumbered six to
one by the Sunnis in a Syrian population of 23 million, which also includes
large minorities of Christians and ethic Kurds.
"We will go to the palace to protect him with our lives," said Mahmoud, an
Alawite student at another Damascus university, who spoke to Reuters among a
group of friends.
"If Assad goes," added another in the group, also called Ali, "I'm sure I'll
either end up dead or I'll leave the country."...
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/01/us-syria-alawites-idUSTRE81024G20120201